Courtesy photo The Hillman Tigers captured the District Crown in a thrilling overtime victory over Gaylord St. Mary's 68-64 Friday. With the win Hillman would secure its fourth district title in the last five years and their ninth in the last 13 years.

ROGERS CITY – The Hillman Tigers secured their fourth district championship in five years, in a game that can be best described as a slug fest, with a 68-64 victory over Gaylord St. Mary’s on Friday.

Thanks to hot shooting from its guards, St. Mary’s was able to pull away from the Tigers early in the game. At one point in the second quarter Hillman trailed by as many as 11 points, 25-14.

What happened next would only be a taste of how the remainder of the game would play out as every time the Tigers needed to respond, they answered the call.

Thanks in large part to junior big man Eddie Prue, Hillman went on an 8-0 run to make the score, 25-22, going into the halftime intermission. Prue contributed six of those points by himself.

The Tigers remained hot as the third quarter began, extending their run to 12-0, and taking their first lead of the game, 26-25, with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The lead would change hands 12 times throughout the remainder of the game, giving the fans a rollercoaster of emotions as both teams exchanged blows going down the stretch.

The game was all tied up at the end of three quarters of play, with the score 40-40, as everyone braced themselves for the fourth quarter.

Senior Aedan Tucker scored the first four points of the fourth quarter for Hillman, keeping the Tigers within reach at 46-44. On the following offensive possession senior Evan Crane tied the game at 46 connecting on a highly contested shot with 3 minutes left in regulation.

Minutes later, with the score tied at 48, Prue drove to the basket, scored, and drew the foul. After sinking the free throw, Hillman took a 51-48 lead with less than two minutes to go in the game.

Unfortunately for Hillman, foul trouble did play a factor in this game as on the following offensive possession for St. Marys, Crane picked up his fifth foul, exiting the game with a little more than one minute left.

With Hillman clinging to a three-point lead with under a minute left in the fourth quarter, St. Marys responded with a 6-0 run , knocking down a three pointer and stealing the inbounds pass for an easy layup, taking the lead 55-51.

Hillman would respond as Tucker knocked down a three from the corner to reduce the St. Mary’s advantage to 55-54 with thirty seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

St. Marys had an opportunity to extend their lead to three points at the foul line, but they only connected on one of two free throws and with four seconds remaining in the game Hillman would have an opportunity to tie things up.

With Crane fouled out and on the bench everyone in the gym knew who was going to get the ball, and for good reason, as Xavier Nichols found Prue hustling down the court. With a full head of steam, Prue took the pass, drove to the basket, and connected on a beautiful reverse layup, tying the game as the clock struck zeroes. Sending the game into overtime.

It appeared as if Hillman might pull away in overtime as they started the bonus period on a 4-0 run, taking the lead 60-56. However, that would not be the case as St. Marys went on a 6-0 run of their own, taking back the lead, 62-60.

To make matters more difficult for the Tigers, halfway through the overtime period Prue picked up his fifth foul of the game and had to watch the remainder of overtime from the bench.

Nichols was the next person to step up for Hillman as he drove to the basket on the Tigers’ next offensive possession and was fouled as he knocked down a contested jump shot. Nichols knocked down the free throw attempt, giving Hillman the lead 63-62.

The lead would change hands three times in the final minute of overtime, as St. Marys regained the lead 64-63 with less than a minute to play in overtime.

The Tigers would regain the lead and take control of the game thanks to Nichols, Muszynski, and Hiveley making six out of nine free throws to secure the victory. Hillman outscored St. Mary’s 12 to eight in overtime.

Hillman Head Coach Eric Muszynski said his team’s resilience and effort was what helped it secure another regional title.

“Obviously being down 11 in the first half and then having to burn two timeouts just to get the guys regrouped, was a pretty big deal,” Muszynski said. “We have been in a few scenarios this year where we got down early in games and I think a lot of it had to do with jitters.”

As the game went on, and the nerves settled, Hillman made the necessary adjustments to enable them to get back into the game.

“Once we made a few adjustments defensively, because we were struggling with their low post play, and from that point on we were able to take off,” Muszynski added.

Prue was a big reason Hillman was able to climb back into the game, Muszynski applauded the effort from his senior big man.

“Thankfully in the second quarter Prue was able to step up, scoring 10 of our 13 points,” Muszynski said. “He was really able to keep us afloat in the first half.”

Two of Hillman’s top contributors offensively and defensively fouled out, including Crane who picked up his third with two minutes left in the first half.

“Crane picked up his second foul pretty early on, that hurt us, but I gambled, and I continued to leave him in the game which allowed us to claw our way back into it,” Muszynski said. “The biggest thing was making defensive adjustments for their post play which is something we struggled with early on.”

Next up for the Tigers is a regional semi-final match up with Northern Michigan Christian Academy on Tuesday in Hillman. That game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Josh Jambor can be reached at jjambor@thealpenanews.com.